Walled Lake Michigan Is PARADISE?! Walled Lake Michigan. An area I haven’t dabbled on too much, even though it’s smack dab in the middle of everything. The question is, is this a secret paradise? Should you live here, should you not. Let’s talk about it.
Walled Lake Michigan
Walled Lake Michigan for those of you that don’t know, is located in Oakland county and is 2.39 square miles in size with a population of around 7,300 people. A chunk of the lake is located north in Walled lake, whereas a larger southern chunk of the lake is actually located in Novi. Some people think this is just a lake in Metro Detroit and not a place to live, while others know of it’s existence and pass through it from time to time. What they don’t realize is Walled Lake Michigan is oozing with history.
Walled Lake Michigan History
Being settled before 1824, Native Americans had an Indian village located in the western parts of the lake where legends today say there are Indian burial grounds. As years went on, more settlers emerged building the first store, the first school, and the first church in the mid to late 1830’s.
Walled Lake Michigan In The 1900's
Fast forward to the 1900’s, Walled lake hit a growth spurt, where the railroad and roads made the area more accessible especially being home to the largest lake near Detroit, this area became the getaway for all things recreation and that's when cottages and permanent housing started popping up all over the shores of Walled lake. The roaring 20’s then took over when a dance hall was built in 1919, then a few years later a waterfront cottage community was developed with another dance hall, bath houses and water slides. The dance halls got so popular they were then ranked the top in the state where the most popular bands of the time would come in form all over the world like Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Red Nichols, Sammy kay, and Lawrence welk. The place was booming, then an amusement park was built shortly after in 1929, Walled lake was the place to be and became the Detroit areas most popular summer spot. Between 1969 and 1978, Walled lake hit a wall, it was as if their 15 minutes of fame were over, the amusement park quieted, the bands stop playing, people stopped dancing, and the overpopulated lake lead to badly polluted waters, and the one thing that attracted people wasn’t what it used to be. Fast forward to 1979 and present time, the lake has been revitalized, wildlife has returned and the thriving lakeside community continues to be a place people want to call home.
There’s your history lesson. The question is, do people actually want to live here or not? Let’s jump into the nitty gritty details.
Walled Lake Michigan Location
One of the nicest aspects about this community is it’s location. It’s located right near the entrance of M-5, just north of I-96 and the whole interchange to take you anywhere you want to go. You have the thriving communities of Novi, Northville, Commerce, Wixom, Farmington hills and Farmington all right down the street all while being 30 miles away form the one and only Detroit, but with this location comes some drawbacks, as people are constantly passing through Pontiac trail, west maple road, and all the intersecting mile marker roads, and for a little town that can be overwhelming at times, especially when there’s construction going on, on the nearby expressways, some detours will run you right through the area. So although you are very centrally located in Metro Detroit, it does come with the compromise of their being some traffic and headaches to deal with, but don’t let that persuade you away from living here just yet.
Walled Lake Michigan Recreation
Despite it seeming like Walled lake is just one big ole concrete jungle, there’s more to it than that, although it’s been built up quite a bit over the years with new development taking up more and more green space, Walled lake is still known for its recreational offerings outside of the lake itself. The little town of Walled Lake has 6 city parks, and the Michigan airline trail which was an abandoned railway corridor that was transformed into a world class trail that cuts through 3 communities, and is used by so many people. This trail is such a priority to the community that The Michigan Air Line Trailway Management Council meets publicly each month to discuss trail management priorities, trail events and other developments.
This trail also houses a lot of events to bring together local businesses and to get people out and about and exercising. On top of events involving the trails, there’s also an easter egg hunt in a park, the memorial day parade, a holiday tree lighting, trunk or treat, summer concert series, walled lake fireworks, and the walled lake marketplace that happens every Wednesday from may to October, i'll link more HERE.
Walled Lake Michigan Community
This is a town that has done a great job of trying to keep a community based atmosphere, from the parks and recreation to the list of events, all while not having a very small close knit downtown. Yes there’s sidewalks along the street, yes there are businesses, but it’s still a 4 lane area with space amenities and larger intersections. Don’t get me wrong, Walled lake is small, it just doesn’t have the smashed together storefronts and close knit walkability as you’d see in downtown areas. Since the area was settled, the community was created around the lake, and I would say that holds some truth today as well, still being a very desirable lake to live on.
Walled Lake Michigan Home Prices
Another notable thing about Walled lake is the home prices. You’d think with the desirable lake in the community, these prices would be off the charts, and they can be when you’re on the lake, but you may be surprised at the averages of the community.
Taking a look at this chart provided by the MLS, we have the whole MLS in blue and walled lake in green and it shows the average sale price over the last 3 years, and walled lake comes in at just over $257,000 whereas the MLS as whole comes in at over $308,000. So by today’s standard this is below average. The hardship is this little community doesn’t have a lot popping up for sale and if it does, it’s taken off the shelf before you have a chance to think about it, especially since the area's days on market for a listed home comes in 13 days less than the average.
Walled Lake Michigan Homes For Sale (Ex. 1)
Over the year, there have been 118 home sales which includes condos and single family homes ranging from a $99,900 fixer upper with 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, just under 1200 square feet, situated on 0.19 acres and built in 1925 to a $565,000 colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3,715 total finished square feet, a 3 car garage, situated on 0.28 acres and built in 2000.
Walled Lake Michigan Homes For Sale (Ex. 2)
If we take a look at something more in the average price point, we have a $245,000 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ranch with 1,024 finished square feet on a slab, with a 2 car garage, situated on 0.31 acres and built in 1956. A lot of the homes sold mirror this 1950’s style ranch on over a quarter acre with a 2 car garage for $245,000 to $300,000 depending on what was done to it of course.
Walled Lake Michigan Property Taxes
Staying on the topic of pricing and affordability, property taxes are definitely something worth diving into, especially if you are basing your move on attending walled lake schools, and that’s where knowing the school district you’re in is very important. Walled lake schools are dipping their toes in a lot of different areas around there and are ranked #60 of 336 suburbs with the best public schools in Michigan and #78 of 620 places with the best public schools in Michigan. Walled lake schools are in Commerce township, the village of Wolverine Lake just north of Walled lake, West Bloomfield township, white lake township, Farmington hills, Novi, Orchard Lake, The city of Walled lake of course, and Wixom as well which is just west of walled lake. That may sound like a confusing mess, but Walled Lake schools has over 12,000 students from all the different communities and i’ll be sure to link some school info HERE to expand on the schools some more, but just know if you are living in the city of Walled Lake, in a tax sense, it just covers walled lake schools which comes out to be 40.3838 mills which is the rate to calculate property taxes.
Walled Lake Michigan Property Tax Calculation
If we take that rate and multiply it by 50% of the average sale price, let’s say that price is $250,000, we take $125,000, multiply it by 40.3838 and divide it by 1,000 to get an annual property tax estimate of $5,047.97.
Ex. 50% of list/offer price x millage rate /1,000 = Annual property tax amount
Overall, Walled Lake receives an A- grade overall from niche.com with weather being a C+ and the commute being a C+ which brought the grade down to that minus. The weather is typically rated a C+ in most if not all communities throughout southeast Michigan, because we do have seasons, and we do get snow. In terms of a commute, I think this could be argued and negotiated to death, because on one hand it’s close to M-5 and you aren’t on it long before being able to hit that interchange and go in all directions, but similar to commerce, going north to M-59 will take some time.
For anyone who has lived or knows of walled lake I am curious what your thoughts are on the commute time. Drop your thoughts below!
If you’re thinking about moving to Michigan in 1 day or a million, feel free to reach out anytime, I also have a link to the Living in Michigan newsletter to give you insight on all things Michigan, so be sure to subscribe so you never miss out! Thanks for reading, until next time.
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the pillars of Michigan real estate. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be the best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major in business and marketing, and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.
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